Reversible verdol jacquards

ABSTRACT

In a reversible Verdol jacquard wherein the cam which actuates the pusher grid to press the needles is displaceable angularlly on its driving shaft between two angular positions respectively corresponding to forward and to backward operation of the jacquard, this displacement is automatically realized by means responsive to the direction of rotation of the driving shaft. The cam may carry a member having a radial slot which guides the free end of a connecting lever mounted on a lateral shaft parallel to but spaced from the driving shaft and rotatably carried by a support keyed on the driving shaft, the said lever rotating between two end positions at each of which it is substantially perpendicular to the slot. Rotation of the lateral shaft may be obtained by means of a planet pinion carried by the said lateral shaft to cooperate with a sun gear loosely mounted on the driving shaft, this gear being retained against rotation by locking means which are automatically released when the driving shaft has rotated through a predetermined angle after reversal of its rotation.

Ilite Stats Servillat 1 REVERSIBLE VERDOL .IAOQUARDS [75] Inventor:Gabriel Servillat, Rhone, France [73] Assignee: Verdol S.A., Caluire,France [22] Filed: Sept. 7, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 395,147

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary Examiner lames Kee ChiAttorney, Agent, or FirmDowell and Dowell [57] ABSTRACT In a reversibleVerdol jacquard wherein the cam which actuates the pusher grid to pressthe needles is displaceable angularlly on its driving shaft between twoangular positions respectively corresponding to forward and to backwardoperation of the jacquard, this displacement is automatically realizedby means responsive to the direction of rotation of the driving shaft.The cam may carry a member having a radial slot which guides the freeend of a connecting lever mounted on a lateral shaft parallel to butspaced from the driving shaft and rotatably carried by a support keyedon the driving shaft, the said lever rotating between two end positionsat each of which it is substantially perpendicular to the slot. Rotationof the lateral shaft may be obtained by means of a planet pinion carriedby the said lateral shaft to cooperate with a sun gear loosely mountedon the driving shaft, this gear being retained against rotation bylocking means which are automatically released when the driving shafthas rotated through a predetermined angle after reversal of itsrotation.

10 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEB HAM 81975 sumea g 1 REVERSIBLEVERDOL JACQUARDS The present invention relates to jacquards for looms,

more particularly to double-lift jacquards of the Verdol type, whereinmeans are provided to permit backward rotation of the jacquard for pickfinding or other purposes.

It is known that if such a Verdol jacquard of conventional design isrotated backwards, some of the feeler needles are liable to be urgeddownward by the pusher grid on an unperforated zone of the pattern paperand that they may thus either perforate the paper or be damaged.

It is known to avoid this disadvantage by providing in the jacquardmeans whereby the effective zone of the cam system which drives thepusher grid horizontally is displaced on the operating diagram of thejacquard towards a position symetrical of its normal position withrespect to the crossing of the knife frames. Such an arrangement isdisclosed in the French patent 71, 12,604 filed Mar. 31, I971 in thename of the present Assignee. This may be obtained by displacingangularly the cam system on the cam supporting and driving shaft. Butthis requires that the operator ofthe loom actuates the displacingmechanism first in one direction before causing the loom to rotatebackwards and then in the other direction before resuming normalweaving. Any error or omission may damage the feeler needles or thepattern paper.

It is an object of the present invention to avoid this drawback byproviding a mechanism which acts automatically to displace the pushergrid driving cam system in one direction when the jacquard shaft beginsrotating backwards and in the other when normal forward rotation isresumed.

In a preferred embodiment the cam system, loosely mounted on its drivingshaft, has a substantially radial guide which receives the end ofa leverpivotally carried by a support keyed on the shaft, in such manner as torotate on this support about an axis substantially paral' lel to, butspaced from the axis of the shaft, while means are provided which, whenthe rotational direction of the shaft is reversed, cause the said leverto rotate through such an angle that the cam system is angularlydisplaced as required on the shaft.

The lever driving means may conveniently comprise a planet pinion keyedon the shaft of the lever and meshing with a sun gear loose on the camsystem driving shaft, and a device adapted to maintain the said sun gearstationary for an appropriate time whenever the rotation of the camsupporting shaft is reversed. This device may be formed ofa brake or ofalocking mecha nism. It may be released automatically when the cam systemhas rotated on the driving shaft through the angle required, or in thecase of a brake it may remain in action provided the torque which itdevelops is small enough to cause no overload to the jacquard duringnormal running.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. I is a general longitudinal section of a mechanism according to theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a quite diagrammatical perspective view illustrating therelations between the 'various parts of the mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section corresponding to line III-III of FIG. 1, theparts being illustrated at the position which corresponds to the normalor forward running.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken along line lV--IV (FIG. 1).

FIG. 5 reproduces FIG. 3, but theparts being shown during backwardrunning.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 40 designates the shaft of the jacquard onwhich the pusher grid driving cam 41 is looselymounted. In the exampleillustrated this cam acts on a follower roller carried by the free endofa lever 43 keyed on an oscillating shaft 47 connected with the pushergrid by a rod-and-Iever gearing in the conventional manner. Roller 80may be urged towards cam 41 by a spring or the cam may be of theconstant diameter type acting on two opposed rollers, as usual inhigh-speed Verdol jacquards. A circular plate 81 is secured to cam 41co-axially thereto by means of screws such as 82. Cam 41 and plate 81thus form a single unit loosely mounted on shaft 40 by means of abushing 83. Plate 81 has a radial slot 81a (see also FIG. 3) whichterminates short of its periphery, this slot forming a guide for aroller 84 carried by a connecting lever 85 the other end of which isfixed onto a lateral shaft 86 (FIG. 1) spaced from but parallel to thedriving shaft 40 and rotatably supported by a flat circular support 87keyed on shaft 40 by means of a cotter pin 88. The end of the lateralshaft 86 opposed to roller 84 carries a pinion 89 beyond which itextends in the form of a projecting end 86a (FIGS. 1 and 2).

Pinion 89 cooperates as a planet gear with a sun gear 90 carried by asleeve 91 loose on shaft 40. This sleeve also supports the hub 92 of adouble locking mechanism which will be described below, the said hubbeing secured to gear 90 by screws such as 93.

Hub 92 is surrounded by a ring 94 secured by screws such as 95 (FIG. 1)to a disc 96 loosely mounted on shaft 40 by means of a bushing 97. Thisdisc is maintained against rotation in any appropriate manner, as forinstance by means of an arm 98 (FIG. 2) secured to the frame of thejacquard.

FIG. 4 shows the detail of the double locking mechanism. As shown hub 92is formed with two peripheral recesses having in transverse section theshape of two opposed elongated right-angled triangles with their smallersides directed substantially radially and separated by an intermediateunrecessed portion 92a of relatively small angular extension. Eachrecess thus determines a cam surface 92b which extends from theintermediate portion 92a towards the periphery of the hub. In eachdepression there is disposed a roller 99 resiliently urged along cam,surface 92b by a pusher 100 which slides in a blindbore of theintermediate portion 920 under the action of a spring 101. It will benoted that each depression with its roller 99, its cam surface 92b andthe inner periphery of ring 94 forms a freewheel mechanism well known inthe art, which permits free rotation of hub 92 in one direction butprevents it from rotating in the other direction. Since the twodepressions are opposed to each other, hub 92 is normally wholly lockedwith respect to ring 94.

Each roller 99 may be pushed against the action of the correspondingspring 101 by an arcuate releasing lever I02 pivoted on a pin 103carried by hub 92, the said lever being in one with an arm 104 whichextends outwardly and substantially radially beyond ring 94 forcooperation with the above described extension 86a. Arms 104 are urgedtowards each other by a spring 105 which thus tends to move the innerends of levers I02 away from rollers 99.

The parts thus assume the position illustrated in FIG.

be unlocked for the direction corresponding to arrow 106. This impliesthat in FIG. 4 the left-hand roller 99 should be brought to theineffective or released position by the corresponding lever 102 (it willbe noted in FIG. 1 that the arrows of the section lines III-III andIV-IV are directed in opposed directions, which ex plains that arrow 106in FIG. 4 is counterclockwise while it is clockwise in FIG. 3). This isautomatically obtained by the action of the projecting erid 86a whichacts on the left-hand arm 104. Hub 92 and gear 90 may thus freely rotatein the direction of arrow 106 together with plate 81.

If now shaft 40 is stopped and then rotated backwards, the right-handroller 99 in FIG. 4 acts almost immediately and locks hub 92 with gear90. Since plate 81 goes on rotating in the direction opposed to arrow106 (i. e. counterclockwise in FIG. 3 and clockwise in FIG. 4), pinion89 must roll on the periphery of gear 90 and it is easy to see that itsrotation takes place counterclockwise in FIGS. 3 and 5. Lever 85 willtherefore move along an arc ofa circle as indicated at 107 in FIG. 5.Roller 84 will be displaced radially in slot 81a first inwardly and thenoutwardly thus causing a relative angular movement of plate 81 withrespect to support 87. The parts thus come to the position of FIG. 5which is exactly symmetrical with respect to FIG. 3. The angularposition of cam 41 with respect to shaft 40, as above defined, is againrepresented by angle a but in the reverse direction.

When the position of FIG. 5 is reached, the projecting end 86a, whichhas rotated together with support 87, is at the position indicated at86a.in FIG 4. As illustrated it acts on the right-hand arm 104 in suchmanner that the corresponding lever 102 engages and pushes thecorresponding roller 99 which is thus released to liberate hub 92. Gear90 is thereby free to rotate together with support 87. The wholemechanism may thus freely rotate backwards with cam 41 displaced throughan angle 2a with respect to the case of forward rotation illustrated inFIG. 3.

It will be understood that the mechanism may easily be devised in suchmanner that this angle 211 may correspond to the angular displacement ofthe cam which is required for proper backward operation of the jacquard.

When shaft 40 is again rotated in the forw' rd direction, the sameoperative steps take place but in the reverse direction. In other words,considering'FlG. 5, pinion 89 rotates clockwise, roller 84 moves alongare 107, but towards the right, and the parts are again brought to theirnormal running position of- FIG. 3.

It is obvious that for proper operation of the jacquard either forwardor backward, lever should remain at the position illustratedrespectively in FIG. 3 or in FIG. 5 in spite of theunavoidable shockswhichlappear owing to the weight and to the inertia of the partsactuated by cam 41. In other words, considering FIG. 3, this lever whichacts normally as a pulling member, should not rotate if it ismomentarily submitted to compressive forces, even in the presence ofvibrations. For this purpose angle OAB (FIGS. 3 and 5) is providedslightly lower than in order that any compression may tend to urgeroller 84 outwardly against the closed outer end of slot 81a. Of coursesuch a position is theoritically unstable since the normal pulling forcewill tend to bring angle OAB to 90, but if the difference is small (forinstance for OAB comprised between 86 and 88), stability may be obtainedby means ofa rather reduced retaining force-In the embodimentillustrated there has been provided for this purpose a resilient lockingdeviceformed of a ball 108 slidable within a longitudinal perforation ofsupport 81 and which is urged into a lateral depression 90a of gear 90by a spring 109 resting against a screw 110. Gear 90 is of course formedwith two depressions respectively corresponding to the positions of'FIG. 3 and of FIG. 5.

In the embodiment illustrated the angular displacement of gear 90 withrespect to support 81 is limited by an arcuate slot 9% (see .moreparticularly FIG. 2) formed in the gear, this slot receiving a pin 111carried by the support. This limitation of the relative angulardisplacement of gear 90 with respect to support 81 duplicates of coursethe effect of the closed outer end of the radial slot 81a which limitsthe outward movement of roller 84. I

It may further be remarked that pinion 89 only rolls along a limitedportion of the periphery of gear 90 which may therefore be replaced by amere toothed sector.

While the releasable locking mechanism illustrated in FIG. 4 isofpractical advantage for ensuring the angular displacement of lever 85when rotation of the jacquard is reversed, it should be noted that thisdisplacement could be obtained by other means. For instance gear 90could be submitted to the action of an electric brake which would bereleased by appropriate contacts so arranged, as for instance on 'gear90 and on support 87, as to release the brake as soon as the angulardisplacement required is obtained. Also gear 90 could permanentlyreceive the action of a frictional brake which would develop asufficiently low braking torque in order not to apply an excessive loadon shaft 40 during normal running. It will. also be understood that themechanical system formed of roller 84, slot 81a and lever 85 could bereplaced by any other equivalent gearing, as for instance by a cammounted on shaft 86 and acting on appropriate follower members carriedby plate 81, by a radial fork and a pin slidable therein, etc..

It is further obvious that the jacquard may comprise more than a singlecam such as 40, these cams being angularly fixed with respect to eachother, as for instance by being mounted on a common tubular shaftloosely supported by the driving shaft 30.

I claim:

1. In a Verdol jacquard comprising at least one cam adapted to actuatethe pusher grid horizontally, the

said cam being carried by a driving shaft on which it is selectivelydisplaceable between a first angular position corresponding to forwardoperation of' the jacquard and a second position corresponding tobackward operation thereof, the improvement according to which saidjacquard further comprises means responsive to the direction of rotationof said driving shaft and acting on said cam to displace same angularlythereon from said first angular position to said second angular positionwhen said direction is reversed from normal forward rotation to backwardrotation and to retain said cam at said second angular position duringsaid backward rotation, and to displace said cam angularly on said shaftfrom said second angular position to said first angular position whensaid direction is again reversed from backward rotation to normalforward rotation and to retain said cam at said first angular positionduring said forward rotation, said means comprising:

a support mounted on said driving shaft at a fixed angular positionthereon;

a lateral shaft rotatably carried by said support, said lateral shaftbeing substantially parallel to but spaced from said driving shaft;

a connecting lever fixed to said lateral shaft, said lever having a freeend;

guiding means loosely mounted on said driving shaft at a fixed angularposition with respect to said cam, said guiding means being arranged toguide the free end of said lever substantially radially to said drivingshaft;

and means to cause rotation of said lateral shaft through apredetermined angle whenever the direction of rotation of said drivingshaft is reversed to cause said connecting lever to displace angularlysaid guiding means and said cam on said driving shaft between one andthe other of said first and second angular positions of said cam on saiddriving shaft.

2. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 1, said means to causerotation of said lateral shaft comprising:

a planet pinion mounted on said lateral shaft at a fixed angularposition thereon;

a toothed sector loosely carried by said driving shaft co-axiallythereto to form a sum wheel meshing with said planet pinion;

and means to retain said toothed sector against rotation when thedirection of said driving shaft is reversed and to permit rotation ofsaid sector to gether with said driving shaft after a predermined angleof rotation of said driving shaft.

3. In a Verdoljacquard as claimed in claim 2, said retaining meanscomprising:

a hub member loosely mounted on said driving shaft, said hub memberbeing angularly fixed with respect to said sector;

a stationary crown co-axial to said hub and surrounding same;

first and second locking means interposed between said hub member andsaid crown to prevent rotation of said hub member respectively in oneand the other directions;

means to selectively unlock said first and second locking means;

and means carried by said support to selectively actuate said unlockingmeans after said predetermined angle of rotation of said driving shaft.

4. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 2, said retaining meanscomprising a brake to apply to said toothed sector a reduced permanentbraking torque.

5. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 2, means to resiliently locksaid toothed sector with respect to said driving shaft at said first andsecond positions of said cam on said driving shaft.

6. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 2, means to limit theangular displacement of said toothed sector on said driving shaft.

7. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 1. said connecting leverbeing substantially at a dead point position with respect to saidguiding means at said first and second angular positions of said cam onsaid driving shaft.

8. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 1:

said guiding means including a member having a radial slot;

said connecting lever having at its free end a follower memberdisplaceable in said slot;

and said connecting lever being substantially perpendicular to said slotat said first and second angular positions of said cam on said drivingshaft.

9. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 8, said slot having a closedend to limit the angular displacement of said connecting lever and ofsaid lateral shaft with respect to said support.

10. In a Verdoljacquard comprising at least one cam adapted to actuatethe pusher grid horizontally, the said cam being rotatably carried by areversible driving shaft on which it is angularly displaceable withrespect to said shaft between a first fixed position which it oc cupiesduring forward operation of the jacquard and a second fixed positionwhich it occupies during backward operation thereof, the improvementcomprising:

a support member fixed to the shaft adjacent to said cam; connectingmeans interposed between said cam and said support member and includinglever means displaceable selectively into either of two opposedorientations, one orientation maintaining the cam in said first fixedposition and the other orientation maintaining the cam in said secondfixed position; and means carried by the shaft responsive to reversalsin its direction of rotation and coupled to said connecting means andoperative when the shaft reverses from forward to backward rotation todisplace said lever means and move said cam into the second position,and operative when the shaft reverses from backward to forward rotationto displace said lever means and move the cam into the first position.

1. In a Verdol jacquard comprising at least one cam adapted to actuatethe pusher grid horizontally, the said cam being carried by a drivingshaft on which it is selectively displaceable between a first angularposition corresponding to forward operation of the jacquard and a secondposition corresponding to backward operation thereof, the improvementaccording to which said jacquard further comprises means responsive tothe direction of rotation of said driving shaft and acting on said camto displace same angularly thereon from said first angular position tosaid secOnd angular position when said direction is reversed from normalforward rotation to backward rotation and to retain said cam at saidsecond angular position during said backward rotation, and to displacesaid cam angularly on said shaft from said second angular position tosaid first angular position when said direction is again reversed frombackward rotation to normal forward rotation and to retain said cam atsaid first angular position during said forward rotation, said meanscomprising: a support mounted on said driving shaft at a fixed angularposition thereon; a lateral shaft rotatably carried by said support,said lateral shaft being substantially parallel to but spaced from saiddriving shaft; a connecting lever fixed to said lateral shaft, saidlever having a free end; guiding means loosely mounted on said drivingshaft at a fixed angular position with respect to said cam, said guidingmeans being arranged to guide the free end of said lever substantiallyradially to said driving shaft; and means to cause rotation of saidlateral shaft through a predetermined angle whenever the direction ofrotation of said driving shaft is reversed to cause said connectinglever to displace angularly said guiding means and said cam on saiddriving shaft between one and the other of said first and second angularpositions of said cam on said driving shaft.
 2. In a Verdol jacquard asclaimed in claim 1, said means to cause rotation of said lateral shaftcomprising: a planet pinion mounted on said lateral shaft at a fixedangular position thereon; a toothed sector loosely carried by saiddriving shaft co-axially thereto to form a sum wheel meshing with saidplanet pinion; and means to retain said toothed sector against rotationwhen the direction of said driving shaft is reversed and to permitrotation of said sector together with said driving shaft after apredermined angle of rotation of said driving shaft.
 3. In a Verdoljacquard as claimed in claim 2, said retaining means comprising: a hubmember loosely mounted on said driving shaft, said hub member beingangularly fixed with respect to said sector; a stationary crown co-axialto said hub and surrounding same; first and second locking meansinterposed between said hub member and said crown to provent rotation ofsaid hub member respectively in one and the other directions; means toselectively unlock said first and second locking means; and meanscarried by said support to selectively actuate said unlocking meansafter said predetermined angle of rotation of said driving shaft.
 4. Ina Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 2, said retaining means comprisinga brake to apply to said toothed sector a reduced permanent brakingtorque.
 5. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 2, means toresiliently lock said toothed sector with respect to said driving shaftat said first and second positions of said cam on said driving shaft. 6.In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 2, means to limit the angulardisplacement of said toothed sector on said driving shaft.
 7. In aVerdol jacquard as claimed in claim 1, said connecting lever beingsubstantially at a dead point position with respect to said guidingmeans at said first and second angular positions of said cam on saiddriving shaft.
 8. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 1: saidguiding means including a member having a radial slot; said connectinglever having at its free end a follower member displaceable in saidslot; and said connecting lever being substantially perpendicular tosaid slot at said first and second angular positions of said cam on saiddriving shaft.
 9. In a Verdol jacquard as claimed in claim 8, said slothaving a closed end to limit the angular displacement of said connectinglever and of said lateral shaft with respect to said support.
 10. In aVerdol jacquard comprising at least one cam adapted to actuate thepusher griD horizontally, the said cam being rotatably carried by areversible driving shaft on which it is angularly displaceable withrespect to said shaft between a first fixed position which it occupiesduring forward operation of the jacquard and a second fixed positionwhich it occupies during backward operation thereof, the improvementcomprising: a support member fixed to the shaft adjacent to said cam;connecting means interposed between said cam and said support member andincluding lever means displaceable selectively into either of twoopposed orientations, one orientation maintaining the cam in said firstfixed position and the other orientation maintaining the cam in saidsecond fixed position; and means carried by the shaft responsive toreversals in its direction of rotation and coupled to said connectingmeans and operative when the shaft reverses from forward to backwardrotation to displace said lever means and move said cam into the secondposition, and operative when the shaft reverses from backward to forwardrotation to displace said lever means and move the cam into the firstposition.